People are often in a hurry. They rush to get ready in the morning; they rush through breakfast; they rush to get to work. People often overlap their various tasks to improve efficiency, for example some people will eat and work at the same time or they will eat and drive at the same time. Some people will even work and drive at the same time.
These people often do not have adequate time to plan their day. They frequently try to mentally plan their day while getting ready or driving, and then later put their schedule to writing in a daytimer or input it into a palm pilot. However, this type of planning is ineffective as task items are forgotten or miss entered. Moreover, the daytime or palm pilot may not be in accessible location, e.g. it may be left at home or work.
These people also do not have time to log on to news, stocks and electronic information service that have become a part of their lives before going to work. They have to get their desired news and information at a later time, e.g. after logging in at work or in the evening.
Therefore, there is a need for people to be able to plan their day and receive news and information before they leave their homes.
The present invention is directed to a system and method which comprises an information display panel and a mirror to form a smart mirror.
Such a smart mirror would preferably be placed in the bathroom, since a person spends a certain amount of time in the bathroom preparing for the day. The mirror would allow a person to review electronic news and information, as well as their schedule, while preparing for the day, e.g. brushing teeth, shaving, styling hair, washing up, applying makeup, drying off, etc. By allowing interaction with the smart mirror, a person could revise their schedule, and select the news and information that they would like to receive. The invention provides all of this information in one place, thus the user does not have to look to multiple sources which may be in multiple locations. The user could review the news, information, and schedule as part of their morning preparations.
The user could look at the smart mirror and review news headlines and/or stories, read and respond to e-mails, and/or review and edit their schedule of appointments. Thus, the user can receive news information in the morning, instead of in the evening, for example sports news, weather reports, business or stock market information, and/or local or national news. Also the user can review e-mails that have been delivered from the evening before and overnight, e.g. e-mails from information gatherers or list services that the user has enrolled with.
The smart mirror has two modes. In a power off mode, the smart mirror acts as a standard reflective mirror. In a power on mode, then the smart mirror becomes a display device. The display device may comprise a touch screen, which would allow direct user interaction.
The smart mirror could be connected to a computer system that is located elsewhere in the dwelling, e.g. an office, or adjacent to the smart mirror, e.g. behind the smart mirror. Preferably, the smart mirror is connected to the Internet to be able to send/receive e-mails, as wells as display web information. This would allow a user to configure the smart mirror to display desired information, e.g. news, stocks, etc, from selected sources, e.g. CNN, UPI, stock companies, etc. The connection to the computer system would allow access to the user""s appointment schedule. The user could then review and/or change the appointments, tasks, and/or notes in the schedule or calendar. The user could then have the schedule downloaded to a personal data assistant, e.g. palm pilot, or printed out for inclusion with an appointment book, e.g. dayrunner. The user could also e-mail the schedule to a work location or to another person, e.g. administrative assistant.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.